THR versus OCO
Collecting 3 one run victories OC swept the surprising Topeka
team. The Outlaw pitchers were totally dominant, actually striking out more
batters than hits allowed (27-26). Topeka
played well, taking advantage of what few scoring opportunities they had, but
there were just too few opportunities. Conversely OC battered the Hot Rod
pitchers, but failed to capitalize on many of their chances. OC had 33 LOB to
22 for THR. OC was paced by Co-MVP, V.Wells and B.Jenks. Wells was 8 for13, including 3 xbh
& 5 RBI. Jenks personified the entire bullpen, but stood out with 6 K’s, 1
hit allowed, and a save in 5 IP over 3 games.
gm1: OC 6-5, this was the most exciting and dramatic of 3
one run games. In fact it took 12 innings to decide it. Topeka
scored in each of the 1st two innings and in the bottom of 2nd, OC
tied it on V.Wells’ dbl. Over the next 5 innings THR
scored on a homer, a squeeze bunt, and on poor OC defense (OF error & gbx single). All the scoring came off J. Lackey. OC was hitting CC Sabathia
pretty hard, 11 hits and 5 runs in 6+, but they also left many on base. OC
futility was epitomized in the 10th when a dbl, bb, & WP had runner’s at 2nd & 3rd with 0 outs, only to
have M.Rivera retire 3 in a row squashing the
rally. Finally in the 12th, Beltre & Velandia duplicated
their 10th inning dbl and Ibb efforts, but
this time JD Drew laced a hard gbx near M.Tejada who only slowed it down allowing the game winning
run to score without a play. J.Varitek batting 9th
had 3 hits for Topeka, and V. Wells
hitting 8th had 4 hits and 3 RBI for OC. M. Rivera took the loss and
J.Zumaya got the win. Topeka
was hurt…literally when J.Thome was injured for the
maximum 3 games.
Gm2: OC 4-3, R.Halladay was
cruising with a 3-0 lead and OC squandered several opportunities vs. A.Pettite. Then M.Tejeda’s 7th
inning, 2 run jack knotted the score, and here we go again. But, S.Downs, C.Ray, & B.Jenks smothered the Hot Rods with 3 perfect innings of
relief. The deciding run was weird. M.Cuddyer hit a 2
out dbl and V.Wells grounded a gbx
near Tejada…dejavu? The ball went thru and Cuddyer
scored, but Wells rounded the base too far and was nailed, ending the inning. C.Figgins went 4-4 for OC, while Tejeda
had 2 hits & 2 RBI for Topeka. J.Borowski was tagged with the “L”& C.Ray
got the “W”.
Gm3: OC 7-3, a change in venue didn’t change THR luck. C.Wang entered the 8th having allowed only 3
singles, but a lead off hit in the 8th got him yanked. B.Seay was the only OC pitcher THR figured out in the
series because he gave up 3 straight hits, the 2nd being J.Buck’s 3 run bomb. But M.Guerrier
extinguished any Hot Rod flames with 4 K in 1.2 ip. Z.Greinke started for Topeka
and it wasn’t pretty. JD Drew opened the game with a
hr, and the next 3 Outlaws reached base safely.
The streaky Pitcher retired the next 5 batters (into the 2nd)
before giving up 3 straight hits and 2 more runs. In the 3rd Kraig
had seen enough after 2 more OC hits. K.Rogers came
in to face G.Anderson, but Randy opted to let M.Cuddyer face Rogers. Outlaw Magic, Cuddyer
homered putting the game away in the 3rd inning.
gm4: OC 1-0, OC continued their pitching dominance, allowing
only 2 singles, none after the 3rd inning. This time it was J.Lackey who spearheaded the Outlaws with 6 shutout ip. B.Jenks added 2 no hit, no
run ip, and Zumaya earned
the save by getting the only man he faced. Topeka
milked 4 BB, but also hit into two DP’s. CC Sabathia
was also terrific tossing a CG and striking out 10. The only run came in the 2nd
when M. Redmond singled with one out and advanced to 3rd on A.Beltre’s dbl. After an int. BB, H.Kendrick
lofted a fbb to CF for a SF.
Ichiro got both of THR’s hits and M.Redmond went 4-4
for OC, missing an RBI when Posada was nailed at home on his 6th
inning dbl.